


Us

by lotstowritetonight (Pigeonsplotinsecrecy)



Category: Grand Hotel (US TV)
Genre: Brotherly Love, F/M, Grief, Insomnia, Missing Persons, Mystery, Siblings, Sweetness, Yearning, reflections, sweet romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 12:01:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19927753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigeonsplotinsecrecy/pseuds/lotstowritetonight
Summary: Danny can't sleep. Good thing he has Alicia beside him to talk things through.





	Us

“Tell me how to be in this world

Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt

Tell me how ‘cause I believe in somethin’

I believe in us.”

**Us**

Danny laid next to Alicia, curling up around her as she slept. He felt safer being near her, hating sleeping alone. Well, he wasn’t doing much sleeping. It was almost 4 am, and he was still wide awake, taking in the smell of vanilla shampoo and fresh sheets. Nights in bed with her had become important to him. The closeness to another human was intoxicating. It was probably a mistake but one he wanted to make again and again.

He’d been seeing Alicia for a month, and despite his resolve not to, he was starting to fall in love with her. Her wit, her tendency towards seriousness, her carefulness were all things he admired about her, and he knew there was so much more yet to discover— scars to uncover, birthmarks to trace with his fingers, kisses to imprint on soft skin. Yet, there was so much he worried that would remain hidden between them.

Because he still hadn’t told her his darkest secrets, and he wasn’t sure he ever would. She knew the broad strokes of his life: that he was an orphan, that he had a sister, that he hadn’t always walked the straight and narrow, but she didn’t know that his sister was Sky or that she was the reason he had come to the hotel in the first place. Having to keep these secrets from Alicia made him restless because there was nothing worse than not being able to tell the most important things in your life to the most important person.

He was so tired, but a pit of anxiety made it impossible for him to rest. Thoughts of Sky, dead and brutalized rotated through his head, reminding him that his worst nightmares could have come true. His sister could be gone, and there was a chance she wasn’t coming back. Danny had a bad feeling that she wasn’t going to return, and if she was alive, it seemed she was never going to return or make contact. Usually he got a call every so often at least to let him know where she was and vaguely what she was doing. For months, there had been nothing, and the silence was deafening. He could hear nothing but grief in the wake of Sky’s disappearance. It consumed him, especially in times when he had to be kept quiet. Grief wasn’t supposed to fit nicely into a box under lock and key.

If only it all was just a joke. He prayed that Sky would jump out and tease him for worrying that she might be dead in the way only a big sister can. He’d hug her if he saw her, even though they weren’t touchy feely types, never getting too close to anyone. He had always wished they were, but it was their instinct to flinch away from touch instead of melting into it.

Alicia had melted Danny a little, warming some of his iciness, and he wasn’t sure if he should be terrified or thrilled. All he knew was that he needed human interaction to ease the loneliness that was boiling over in his brain, preventing him from getting rest or having sanity. He’d been alone for enough of his life, and he couldn’t take it anymore.

He shifted on the mattress, propping himself up on his forearms so his mouth was hovering over her ear. His breaths were hot and raspy, hers were cool and easy.

“Alicia,” he stage whispered like a kid waking his mom after a nightmare. As a kid, Danny had always had to endure nightmares alone, staring wide eyed at the ceiling, flinching at the shadows and startling at the creaking of the house. Those terrifying nights would tick slowly, keeping him alert and in terror. He hated to wake her, but he couldn’t stand being awake by himself anymore. He needed to know she was still there, and seeing her sleeping form wasn’t enough.

She woke easily. He’d learned early on that she was a light sleeper. When he could actually fall asleep, he was dead to the world. She looked at him drowsily, pulling her body up to a sitting position, flipping on a light, and turning to face him. One look at his face, and she knew it was serious. “What is it?” She looked at the clock. “It’s four in the morning, Danny.” Her voice was still a little groggy. It was cute.

He realized how stupid it had been to interrupt her sleep. “I’m sorry. Never mind. Go back to sleep, Alicia.”

“I’m already up now. You might as well just tell me.” She still only sounded half-awake, like she wasn’t quite sure what was going on but wanted to sort things out.

“I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”

“Why not?”

He took a breath. “I think my sister is dead.” That seemed to wake Alicia up. He could see a burst of energy fill her body.

“What do you mean, Danny? Since when?”

“A while after she went missing, I realized this was more than her being bad at calling. She was doing well, and then she just vanished. I came here to look for her, but I’m starting to think I’m never going to find her.”

She pressed a kiss to his lips, pulling her body closer to his. “I’m sorry. That must be awful for you.”

His eyes glassed over. “I hate to think that now there’s not a person left in this world who would care if I went missing.” She brushed a stray tear away with her index finger, the coolness of a ring she had forgotten to take off before bed caressed his cheek.

She stroked his arm softly, just barely brushing his skin. “I’d care.”

“I know, but that’s not what I mean. It was nice to have family, even if she wanted nothing to do with me. It’s stupid. She and I weren’t exactly close, but we were connected. I knew I could count on her to be somewhere, even if she wasn’t always there for me. I love her, and I’d do anything for her. I’d give anything for her to be alive, but the chances of her being dead are greater. But until I get answers, I can’t accept that. I want to stop missing her when she probably won’t ever be back because it’s torture to have hope. I hate not knowing because I’m still dumbly clutching onto that last bit of hope.”

“I can’t imagine what that would be like if that had all happened to my brother. That must be a nightmare.”

“It is, and I can’t function normally. I can barely sleep. The only thing I can focus on is trying to figure out what happened to her, but that’s an empty quest.”

“There’s no easy way to say goodbye to the people we love. My mom died, and I thought I’d never be okay again. I wanted to do something about her death, but I was completely helpless.”

Danny signed. “I don’t know who to be without her. There’s an empty place inside me ever since she went missing, and no matter what I do, the only thing that can make me feel whole is seeing her again. Knowing if she was dead would be a step forward, even if it might not make me feel better.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

He shook his head, “No, I don’t think there’s anything. If there was anything left to do, I’d try it. I’ve tried everything.”

“An employee went missing from here a while ago,” Alicia said.

“I heard about that when I started working here. It made me sad to know that my sister and that girl might’ve met the same fate.”

“It makes me sick to think about. I felt so useless when I heard about it, and I didn’t even know the girl. I wasn’t even around to get to know her, but the connection I felt to her through the hotel was still there. So many people just disappear, never to be seen again. The mystery is the scariest part.”

“Yeah, I think your right. People go away and sometimes we never find out what became of them.He wasn’t ready to tell her that his sister had been the hotel employee who had vanished. He wanted to open up, but he wasn’t going to open up that much. He still had a mission to complete and while he trusted, Alicia knowing could alter his plans more than he felt comfortable. She was a good Mendoza but part of the family all the same. “I think I’m all talked out. We both deserve a little sleep,” he said with a quick peck on the lips, which Alicia deepened.

She nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, but let me know if you need to talk some more.” She smiled, “Don’t be afraid to wake me up if you have to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this. Just wanted to type this up real quick. Feel free to leave feedback. I love hearing from you.


End file.
